KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — The Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC) in Malaysia reported a 13% growth in the exhibitions segment compared to 2022. In 2023, the facility will host 53 trade shows with 1.4 million visitors.
“In 2022, we had hosted 46 exhibitions with 460,000 visitors,” John Burke, General Manager, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, said. “The numbers were expected to be low due to the lingering uncertainties during the recovery phase and, while events began to return to face-to-face, they were smaller in size with lesser participation numbers. In 2019, we had hosted a total of 60 exhibitions that attracted 1.4 million visitors, and in comparison to our numbers this year, we are very close to hitting pre-pandemic level of trade shows.”
This year the KLCC will host Energy Asia, International Medical Exhibition & Conference, the 19th Asian Oil, Gas & Petrochemicals Engineering Exhibition, Cyber Defence and Security Asia, and e-Mobility Asia, among others first-time and returning shows.
“Relationship building has always been the core of our customer retention strategy and over the course of 18 years, since opening, we have ensured to nurture and develop our relationship with exhibition organizers, locally and internationally. Our partnership approach in working very closely with organizers and our flexible nature in accommodating to their needs and demands to ensure their events are delivered seamlessly have kept events coming back to the Centre, as well as attract new shows,” Burke said.
Despite the growth of the segment this year, Burke said it will most likely plateau going forward, but that the KLCC is ready to accommodate its typical full schedule of shows.
“We have eight exhibition halls that are capable of housing multiple trade shows concurrently. We will also continue to employ creative methods to optimize usage of our space in order to accommodate multiple events, comfortably,” Burke said. “As many of the shows are returning from a break, we see this growth as a post-pandemic phenomenon that will likely stabilize to normal level soon, where pre-pandemic, our exhibitions averaged at 61 shows per year.”
The KLCC is managed by a joint venture between owner KLCC (Holdings) Sdn Bhd and venue management company ASM Global.
Reach John Burke at +60 3-2333 2888
